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This is Galatians for
beginners. This is lesson number six in the
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series entitled, Spirit and Power Through
Faith. And we'll be talking about
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Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 to 5. So as
a way to review, in his letter to the
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Galatians, Paul the Apostles is restating
the gospel, which he originally preached
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to them, and the benefits that they
derive from the gospel. And he also warns
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them against the distorted gospel that
has been brought to them by the quote
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Judaizers, these false teachers that have
infiltrated the church and been teaching
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their version of the gospel. Now what's
interesting to note is that both Paul
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and the Judaizers had the very same
objective, they wanted the same thing.
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What was different was the method. The
method was different. For example, the
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Judaizers wanted to be perfect, to be
acceptable before God, to be saved from
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condemnation in hell. That's what they
wanted. They didn't want immorality, they
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didn't want those - they weren't promoting
partying. No, no, they were
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promoting how to be right with God, how
to be perfect in His sight. Their
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method to achieve this was to obey the
commands of God, beginning with
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circumcision, until perfect. And then
receiving salvation as a reward for that
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type of behavior. Paul, on the other hand,
said that God's desire was that men be
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perfect, and thus be saved from
condemnation and hell. Same thing as
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the Judaizers were saying, however, his
method was that through faith in Jesus
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Christ, one shared Jesus's perfection and
was thus saved. Different method.
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So the thrust of Paul's argument was
that in living an absolutely perfect and
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sinless life and then offering that life
on the cross, Jesus obeyed the law and
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Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements
and all of the commandments of the law.
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His point, in preaching the gospel,
was that we also become perfectly
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obedient to all the commandments as well, not by keeping them, because we can't, but
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rather, by being united to the one that
did, by faith. And that faith expressed in
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repentance and in baptism. I
just wanted to point out that difference
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between these two individuals. So this
perfection, this absolute obedience - Paul
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calls it righteousness. Righteousness by
faith is perfection granted by virtue of
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one's union to Jesus, by faith in Him.
This is why there is salvation
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in no other person but Jesus. Not
because God is mean - some
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people, when you say that, they accuse you of being
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mean-spirited and narrow-minded and you
think you're the only ones
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going to heaven, that type of
attitude, they say - when
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we say that there's salvation in
no one else but Jesus. But that's not the
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point. It's not because God is mean, will
not accept sincere offers of worship
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from other religions who have ancient
and reverent worship and they have you
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know very elaborate religious practices.
It's not that He doesn't like what they're
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doing. There's no salvation outside of
Jesus, because only Jesus - no other
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prophet or religious figure, only Jesus -
fulfills the requirements of the law. And
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the law is universal in its condemnation.
The law condemns white people, black
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people, Indian people, short
people, tall people,
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all languages, all backgrounds, Native
Americans, everybody is condemned,
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everybody is under God's law and subject
to it. And the point is, only in Jesus can
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one be considered perfect and thus
spared judgment. It isn't Mohammad
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that took care of the requirements
of the law for mankind. It isn't Buddha
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who did that. There are no other
religious profits or figures or leaders
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or thinkers or philosophers that
actually fulfilled the requirements of
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God's law when it comes to morality. They
talked about it, they attempted quote to
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live good and holy lives, pious lives, but
none of them actually took care of the
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problem. The only access to perfection is
through Jesus. That's why there's no
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salvation outside of Him, because there's
no other way to be perfect. This is why
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faith expressed in baptism, this is why
it's so important, it's the point where God
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has ordained that one is united to Jesus
in order to be saved. Let's
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get away from the idea that we have to stop being so
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narrow-minded. Proposing that Jesus
is the only avenue to salvation, that's
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not being narrow-minded, that's simply
expressing the truth that the Scriptures
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explain. Nobody else takes care of the
problem. So this was God's Way of making
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man perfect. And no other way was to be
substituted. Now, someone will say, but why?
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Why this way? Why the elaborate
history, and the cross, and the
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resurrection?
Why all of this? Because righteousness, by
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faith, is the only method available to
bring one before God in an acceptable
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fashion. There is no other method. We've
demonstrated that no matter how hard you
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try you you can't be acceptable to God
by doing good or by being good.
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Christians aren't the only ones who have
developed the idea that all men are
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sinful. If you look at other religions,
they say, they've noticed the same thing.
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It's a pretty evident thing. Even people
who don't believe in God at all,
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acknowledge the idea that well, nobody's
perfect. They say, well, nobody's
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perfect. But that's true. Nobody is
perfect. So how do you get to be perfect?
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How do you get to be acceptable to God,
and thus have the possibility of having
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some sort of relationship with Him? Well,
we, as Christians, we propose that the
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only way is through Jesus. Why? He takes
care of that righteousness thing for us.
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Okay, I think we understand that. So again,
why this method? Well, first of all, God
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decreed that this would be so.
Righteousness was to be by faith, not law,
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Galatians 3:11. You see, God's Word is
what brings a principal or a thing into
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being and gives it legitimacy. In the
physical world, it's God's word that
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brings the Sun into being, right? He spoke
the creation into existence. On the
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spiritual side, it is God's word that
establishes spiritual principles.
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In other words, that there's no
relationship between faith and
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moral excellence unless God says that
there is, because God said there is a
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relationship between faith and moral
excellence. That an individual can be
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invested with moral excellence through
faith in Christ. Why is it? Why does it
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work like that? Well, because God said
that's the way it's going to work. Just
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like he said, let there be light and
there was light. He spoke it into
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existence. He spoke the gospel into
existence. Another reason, why is
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righteousness only by faith, why? Well,
first God decreed it to be so. Secondly,
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righteousness is a gift. It can't be
earned. Man began righteous, was created
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this way. It was a free gift to him at
creation. When God looked at everything
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that he had created he said, it's
very good. It's all good. The new man
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becomes righteous again as a gift from
God, when he is recreated in Christ. Paul
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talks about this another epistle. If you
compare two passages, in chapter 3:23-24
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he says, "For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God, being
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justified," how? "as a gift by His grace," how?
"through the redemption which is in," who?
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"Jesus Christ." And then in Romans 6:23 he
says, "For the wages of sin is death, but
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but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." So
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no amount of effort can earn something
already designated as a gift.
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Righteousness is a gift that you have,
you and I as Christians, that we possess.
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The righteousness of Jesus, that's a gift.
It's been given to us by God through
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faith. Again, answering the question: why is righteousness only by faith?
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Because God said so, that's why. Two,
because righteousness is a gift. And
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three, righteousness by faith honors God.
In Romans 3:27-28 it says, "Where then is
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boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of
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works? No, but by a law of faith. For we
maintain that a man is justified by
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faith apart from works of the Law." "God
subdues his enemies with wrath and
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destruction." Second Thessalonians tells us
that. And God brings his children into
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submission through grace - the offer of
righteousness by faith. Either way,
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we will submit to Him. We're either going
to submit to Him in wrath. In other words,
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judgment. Paul says, every knee
will bow, every tongue will confess. He's
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not talking about every Christian. He's
talking about everybody that ever lived.
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Every knee will bow, every tongue
will confess, whether they like it or not.
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Whether they believed it or not. At some
point, when Jesus returns, they will not
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be able to avoid or deny the truth of
that. So God can subdue His enemies
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through wrath and judgment, but he
subdues us, the believers, how? Through
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grace. I want to do what He wants me to
do, why? Because I've seen what He's done
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for me. Because I'm grateful and nobody
has to whip me into wanting - the
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law cannot make you want to do what's
right. It'll make you do what's right
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because you don't want to be punished,
but it can't instill in you a desire to
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do what's right. The law doesn't have
that power, but God's grace has that
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power. It makes me want to do what's
right, it makes me reject what is wrong,
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despite - my flesh can be
saying, oh I want that. I want that. I want
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that, but my spirit is saying, yeah, but
because I love God, because of what He
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has done for me, i'm not going to partake
in whatever that sin is. In verse 15 to
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21 Paul establishes this idea, that this
righteousness is obtained through faith.
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Jesus' faith, expressed in perfect
obedience to the Father. That's something
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we can not do. Now, the believers' faith, expressed
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in repentance and baptism, that's
something that we can do. He gives us
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what we can do, in order to obtain what
we can't. So it is because we believe in
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Jesus that we are united to Him. And it
is because we are united to Him by faith
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that we are perfect according to the law.
Now Paul goes on to describe other
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things that are obtained through faith,
which cannot be obtained through the
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keeping of the law. He demonstrates that
not only righteousness is obtained by
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faith, but other spiritual blessings, as
well. Such as the regenerative work of
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the Spirit within all of them. And he
shows this by asking five questions to
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the Galatians. And so now we go back to
our text. I've been kind of
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compressing, reviewing, okay, with you what
we have done so far, so now let's go to
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chapter 3, verse 1. First question he asks,
what's wrong with you people, basically.
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He says, "You foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus
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Christ was publicly portrayed as
crucified?" They're being foolish,
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they're being thoughtless in what they
are doing. They're abandoning
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perfection through faith, to try to
obtain perfection through the keeping of
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the law. How can they even think of doing
what they are doing after Christ has
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been so plainly and publicly presented
to them. How? Well, through Paul's
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preaching. So the fact that Christ earned
everything for them through His cross,
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was so plainly stated and portrayed, how
could they be so foolish as to disregard
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this? In other words, who's fooling you?
What have you been
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drinking? Question number two, how did you
receive the Holy Spirit? He says, "This is
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the only thing I want to find out from
you: did you receive the Spirit by the
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works of the Law, or by hearing with
faith?" Now they were mostly Gentiles, with
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no previous knowledge of the
"Jewish law". When they heard Paul's
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preaching, they responded with faith and
they received the Holy Spirit. And so, the
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Holy Spirit, if it's not received by
faith, then how did they receive it? That's
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the question. What is it that you had to
do by the law? How many Commandments did
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you have to keep in order to get the
Spirit? At what point of law keeping did
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you all of a sudden receive the Spirit?
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Because, the gospel tells you that you
receive the spirit when you responded to
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Christ in faith, expressed in repentance
and baptism, Acts 2:38. "Repent and be baptized
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every one of you, in the name of Jesus
for the forgiveness of your sins and you
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shall receive," what? "The gift of the Holy
Spirit." Question number three, what system
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is working in you now? Verse three, "Are
you so foolish? Having begun by the
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Spirit, are you now being perfected by
the flesh?" With the spirit also came the
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regenerative power in their lives as
they began bearing the fruit of
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Christian character: love, joy, peace,
patience, self-control. Those
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type of things, that's the work
of the spirit in you. They know that this
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change was begun by the Holy Spirit, that
they received through faith. Are they now
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trying to complete the work of the Holy
Spirit in themselves through human
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efforts, based on the law? How can what
was begun by the spirit, without the help
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of human effort, be completed with human
effort? Doesn't make any sense. So what
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he's doing, he's saying, I'm asking you questions so you
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can examine yourself in the light of
what you've been doing. Question number
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four, was it all for nothing? Parents have
said this to their children for decades,
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centuries. Have I done all of this for nothing?
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The way he says it, "Did you suffer so
many things in vain - if indeed it was in
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vain?" They suffered for their faith
through various persecutions, Paul asks
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if all of this was for nothing, now that
they're threatening to throw everything
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away. If indeed it was in vain, he says, is
another way of saying that Paul cannot
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bring himself to believe so until it
happens. So there's still hope. Then
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number five question, where do miracles
come from? He says. "So then, does He who
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provides you with the spirit and works
miracles among you, do it by works of the
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Law, or by hearing with faith?" God had
done signs among them through Paul. When
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he preached to them. God had given them
the Holy Spirit, at the preaching of Paul.
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How was this done? Was it done based on
their response of faith or works of the
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law? The Judaizers did no miracles. See
that's the point. Remember I said, keep
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your eye on those guys, the Judiazers. They
didn't do any miracles. He's saying, I
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came in, I did miracles to confirm what I
was preaching to you, and what I was
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preaching to you was that you would
receive the spirit by faith and so on
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and so forth. So how come you're
believing these guys and they don't do
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any miracles? The Judaizers did no
miracles while among them to confirm
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their gospel, but the true apostles with
the true Gospels were confirmed by
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miracles and signs, just as Jesus said
that they would in Mark 16:20. So Paul
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reestablishes that the blessings of
salvation were obtained by Jesus. Why?
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Because he's the one that obeyed the law
perfectly and then offered His perfect
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life as a payment for the sins of all
men. Those who want to receive those
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blessings, do so by being united to Jesus
by faith, and thus share in the blessings
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that He has obtained. That's the
system that God has designed for us and
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that the gospel explains. When we say, the
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church, we support missions,
we've got to get the word out.
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That's the word that we're trying to get
out. That's the message, in a variety of
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ways, that we're trying to get out. Bible
correspondence courses, thousands and
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thousands of them being done in
Africa and other places, well, what are
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they teaching those people? Well, that's
what they're teaching them: salvation.
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Unity with God doesn't come through
magic. Here we don't have to preach that,
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in the United States we're not -
that's not a big thing in our culture,
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but in other cultures, magic is very
important. So they're learning.
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Bible Talk is, obviously, more
geared towards a Western mindset and
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every time you invite a friend to church,
ultimately they're going to hear this
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message. So far he's mentioned two of the
blessings of salvation: righteousness,
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being right with God; and the Holy Spirit.
Both are received freely, as one is
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united to Jesus by faith, not by keeping
the law. Paul reminds the Galatians
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how they originally received these
blessings, to prevent them from throwing
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them all away. There's some practical
lessons here. Just going to share one
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with you, and it's this, if I am already
perfect in God's eyes, why do I struggle
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to avoid disobedience? Why do I make
efforts to do good works? I'm already
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saved, it's a lock. So why try? Both the Judaizers and
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Paul struggled against sin and they both
made human efforts to do good. The
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difference was, why they did it. The
Judaizers did it in order to be perfect,
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in order to be right with God. Paul said
that whatever good he did was prompted
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by the spirit within him, and carried out
as an act of faith to glorify God,
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because God had already saved him
through Christ. We say that
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baptism is an expression of faith, and
that's what it is. But you know what,
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every time I say no to a temptation, to
speak ugly to someone who's
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getting on my nerves, or to tell the
absolute truth when that truth will
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perhaps cost me something, the
effort to resist those things, why do I
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do those? Not so i can be more perfect, to guarantee that I get into
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heaven. I'm already getting into heaven. I
do that because between me and God, it's
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my way of saying to God, I believe even
if the person in front of me has no idea
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why I'm making an effort to, kind of, be
kind to that person, and not
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get ugly with them even though
they're getting on my nerves, I'm
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trying to act like a Christian. I'm not
trying to impress them. I'm trying to say
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to God, I'm making the effort because I
really do believe and if in some way
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this effort that I'm making to
demonstrate my faith is pleasing to you,
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than I've succeeded. Then I'm
thankful. I'm happy. So the Christian does
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what he does to glorify God and to lift
up Christ. And his faith that saves him
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is evident in this. So those who make no
effort to serve God, to deny sin, to
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confess Christ, they demonstrate that
they have no faith and thus they're
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separated from Jesus and salvation. Well,
it's evident in them as well. What saves
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us is not our talent. Our talent is a
gift from God. What saves us is faith and
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what continues to save us is faith,
despite the struggles that we're
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having. We're going to stop there,
because there's another section that
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starts and I want to have a
full class time to tackle the next
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section.